Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Mapping Student Debt

$1.3 trillion in student debt is owed by 42 million Americans. Student debt delinquency can affect all sections of society. However delinquency in the USA disproportionately affects minority communities.

Mapping Student Debt allows you to view the average student loan balance in each household at zip-code level in the United States. If you hover over a zip-code on the map you can view the level of delinquency, the average loan balance and the median income. If you want to view how student loan delinquency disproportionately affects minority communities then select 'Map 2' from the 'View Map' menu. You can then switch the map layers to show choropleth layers of student loan delinquency and the African-American or Latino populations.

The text beneath 'Map 2' reveals how debt delinquency is often highest in areas with a large minority population. In other words student loan delinquency disproportionately affects minority communities. One reason for these above average delinquency rates in minority populations is that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to receive loans from high-cost credit providers with less generous terms and tougher repayment requirements than white students. After graduation African Americans and Latinos also suffer from higher unemployment rates and lower earnings. This in turn contributes to higher levels of delinquency.